My curiosity has gotten the best of me.

I'm currently 5 months or so into my first job out of school, covering the wide world of high school sports. At a volleyball state final a few weeks ago, I was sitting on press row with a couple of high school reporters from much larger metros in the state and I started wondering...These people are essentially doing the same job I am and writing stories about the same game, how much more are they getting paid than I am?

Let it be known that I'm not trying to say that I am better at my job than these people and they obviously have many more schools that they are covering and have been paying their dues much longer than I, but regardless, I'm curious. Any ballpark figures out there for what a salary would be like for a full-time high school reporter would be at a major (top 25 or so circulation) paper?

Thanks in advance.

 

"Paying your dues" is so Generation X. Gotta ditch that sacred cow.

 

Jim, there would be some difference depending on cost of living, but on a large paper somewhere in the 50s or 60s. You probably wouldn't see a preps writer making much more than union scale:

http://newsguild.org/salary/index_2003.php

 

When did A_F steal DyePack's screen name?

 

Now, were any of the guys playing solitaire on the computer?

 

I see dooley_carville has begun his campaign to kill CI's chances at POY!

 

CI's? Clearly you need to change your prescription. CI is not whom I am campaiging for.

 

Even the anonymous shouldn't divulge what they make; it only leads to trouble.

 

I disagree. Generally speaking, employers prefer that employees don't discuss salary and bennies with one another because such talk invariably costs them more. Employees, however, should discuss their salaries with each other because it provides some helpful leverage when you're seeking an increase. Sure, it can cause some petty jealousy but that's usually limited to petty people who need to get over it. The problem is never that your co-worker is making "too much." Rather, the issue should become that you're making too little relative to that other employee. The idea is to help each other climb not drag one another down.

 

well said, but if i'm the guy making more than everyone else (which i'm fairly sure of even though we haven't discussed it) i'm not gonna be too willing to share because that takes money out of my own pocket if the lesser paid guys get bumped. i'm speaking hypothetically, of course, but although rank-and-file might all be in this together versus management, each person still wants to make as much as he can.

 

I don't understand why you think sharing information will take money out of your pocket. Do you view it as a finite pile of money and the less everyone else gets the more you get?

 

All I know is that knowing what a fellow reporter got (which happened to be more than me for far less work) worked in my favour come budget.

He left his pay stub on the floor, wide open and I read it.

I immediately went to my editor/publish and made mention I knew how much he was making and wanted more. Next budget, I got eight per cent, he got zero.

So everyone is right. It helps and it hurts. If I'm making less, and I know you're making more, and I make a point of noting it, I might get the raise. But it goes both ways.